The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the Master asked. "Not good at all," spat the apprentice.

The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the Master. "No," said the young man.

The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the 'pain' depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things..... Stop being a glass. Become a lake!"

The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the Master asked. "Not good at all," spat the apprentice.

The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the Master. "No," said the young man.

The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the 'pain' depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things..... Stop being a glass. Become a lake!"

The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the Master asked. "Not good at all," spat the apprentice.

The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the Master. "No," said the young man.

The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the 'pain' depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things..... Stop being a glass. Become a lake!"

Look critically at the way you approach your work. Common causes because of which people come under job stress are:

Over committing: In order to climb the ladder faster you may be biting more than you can chew. This approach often backfires, because too much on your plate makes you stressed and affects the quality of your work, which in turn can draw criticism and cause more stress.

Not delegating: Trying to do it all by yourself may be an important reason why you are always overworked. Give your teammates the maximum possible opportunity to do a task even if they are not as perfect as you are.

Multitasking too much: Multitasking ability is often seen as a highly desirable skill. However, if you frequently find yourself loaded with half-done jobs maybe you are multitasking too much.

Perfectionism: It's great to give your best, but it's important to realize that you may not be able to do so all the time. Learn to accept "good" instead of "perfect" once in a while.

Lack of discipline: If you chat when you should be working, you may find yourself working when you should be resting. If you postpone everything for tomorrow, naturally tomorrow is going to be a difficult day. You can hardly afford to not plan your day or not stick to your plan if you want to keep stress at bay.

The Way You Communicate

Much stress and confusion is caused because people fail to, or do not have the opportunity to communicate clearly with their managers, teams, and clients. Some common communication pitfalls are:

Lack of clarity about your role: Before you plunge into a job, make sure that you know what is expected from you. You may be working very hard at something that is not what your manager or client has in mind. It surely is a definite recipe for stress for both parties.

Not communicating your expectations: If you have certain expectations from you manager, communicate them as far as possible. Assert yourself beforehand rather than feeling dejected when your expectations are not met.

The Way you Think

Changing the way you think about a certain situation can greatly reduce the amount of stress that it is causing. By this we do not mean that stress is all in your head, but, yes what's going on in your head can affect the degree of stress that you are experiencing.

Put it in the right perspective: Most of us work for very clear reasons, the most common and important of which is to earn a living. If you always stay aware of the reason why you are working, you will be able to look at your workplace problems more objectively. Many times accepting that there are certain things that you cannot change immediately can help you feel much less frustrated about them.

Stay Positive: Become aware of the thoughts that are making you feel bad about yourself. It will turn out that they are only a part of the whole picture. When what's going wrong makes you feel terrible, list down all that is going right in your life which you may be taking for granted.

Your Physical Environment

When you are flooded with work it helps to have the right working environment. Uncomfortable working conditions worsen the physical symptoms of stress such as headache and muscle pain. Fixing these seemingly small issues can help much more than you think. Some of the things that you must avoid are:

Wrong chair: Your chair should provide the right kind of back support and be at the right height. Your eyes should be at the right level with the computer screen.

Too much noise or light: Noise can remarkably reduce efficiency by not letting you focus. Glare on your desk can cause eye strain.

Poorly functioning work equipment: A printer that doesn't work can substantially add to frustration and irritability. These seemingly trivial issues must be solved to keep unnecessary stress away.

Too much clutter: A clean environment has an instantly calming effect. Removing junk from your work environment will make you feel more organized and in control.

Eat Right

The food-mind connection is a scientifically proven phenomenon. What you eat does influence the way you think and how you react to situations.

Stress Reducing Food: Some nutrients such as Vitamin C, lycopene, omega-3 fatty acids and CoQ10 have been reported to help people stay calmer in stressful situations. You can find a good dose of these in citrus fruits, tomatoes, watermelon, papaya, nuts and fish. Or you can ask your family doctor to recommend a dietary supplement containing the right amount of these nutrients. Bananas are also known to have a stress busting effect by providing a shot of potassium and promoting serotonin release in brain. Try having them for breakfast or as a snack during the day when work makes you burst with stress.

Don't Eat Junk to De-stress: A large number of people indulge in feel-good eating to bring down their stress level. Sadly, if this de-stress method becomes a habit, it can cause more distress in the long run. Unhealthy eating pulls down your energy level, causes gastrointestinal problems, irritability, mood swings and leaves you ill-equipped to deal with stress. Not to mention the long term ill effects on health and the added stress caused by an expanding waistline. So when you reach for desserts to feel better, remind yourself Desserts is just Stressed spelt backwards!

Breathe Right

Deep breathing can instantly soothe frayed nerves. Mastering the art of breathing right can keep you calm by stopping you from taking rapid, shallow breaths that make your heart beat faster.

Use Aromatherapy

Oils of chamomile, eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint, rose, and thyme are all soothing and are known to produce a calming effect. Keep a vial in your desk or put some in your handkerchief. Take a whiff when you feel stressed.

Exercise

It has been proven beyond doubt that regular exercise makes you psychologically and physically better equipped to deal with stressful situations. A short brisk walk or even just getting up from your chair to stretch your muscles can dissipate a lot of stress.

Try Acupressure

Acupressure is the technique of stimulating some pressure points with fingers in order to heal certain conditions. You can try using acupressure to relieve stress by pressing on the following three points. Apply firm, steady pressure just enough to cause a mild ache but not pain. Press on each point for two to three minutes.

Between your eyebrows, in the indentation where the bridge of the nose meets the forehead.

On the back of the neck slightly below the base of the skull, about half an inch to the left or right of the spine.

Half an inch below the top of each shoulder, midway between the base of the neck and the outside of the shoulder blade.

Don't Quit in a Hurry

It's okay to quit an overwhelmingly stressful job, but it should be a carefully thought out step rather than a reaction to stress. There is often little guarantee that your next job will be any less stressful and unemployment can be far more stressful than the most stressful of jobs.

I am not against you guys sharing your phone numbers here. But, I don't want some one to misuse your telephone numbers. Please be very careful with your postings. Most of us are already receiving scam messages..

We would like to clarify that as of now, there is no HM group on Whatsapp. We are not interested in creating one as well due to membership is limited to 100 only. In case you find one or you are added to any such groups on whatsapp, we take no responsibility.

Meanwhile, we have a group and page on Facebook. You could check them on below mentioned links:

1) Find out how much amount of money required for your family in your absence. 2) Example : if they required 90,000 Rs. per year. You need sum assured of 10 lakhs. (can get 90,000 per annum as per current bank interest rate 9%)

3) Term policy is better option to get high amount of Sum assured. 4) Compare premium between different insurance companies. 5) You can add riders apart from the premium, if you require. 6)http://www.basunivesh.com/2015/02/13/best-term-insurance-plans-in-india-for-2015-a-comparative-list/ go through this article this may help you. *7) Do not mix insurance and investment, if you are really looking for investment there are too many options available.* *8) Do not listen to any insurance agent. Just look for what is your requirement* 9) And finally give all the information properly to the your insurance agent.

I agree with you. one can trust the financial planners cum agents. I mentioned about typical insurance agents, who sells only insurance policies. I believe most of them do not have proper financial education. They get high bouns/commission for all the policies other than term policies. So they do not prefer term policies. This is the explanation behind my point.

I know the reasons too.. Having worked as a personal financial planner and also as an insurance adviser (not now), I know how the insurance sales market works.

at least 85% of agents representing LIC do not even know their products properly. They mostly mis-sell as advised by their development officers. ULIP products like Money Plus (probably discontinued now) were successful only because of mis-selling.

in private sector, agents sell select few products, again due to pressure from their sales managers. No one really understands how an insurance product works and what are its real benefits. Product Simulation charts have become a major tool to mislead customers. No one wants to sell term insurance, though it has several good features.

*If they work for them, they can work for you too! * *"There is no use trying," said Alice. "One can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." - Lewis Carroll* <http://tickledbylife.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/16-habits.jpg> <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TxEuT3R34vI/UFprw2uSzZI/AAAAAAAAV58/YFHwLB1G-Is/s1600/image001-706808.jpg> Many people believe that creativity is inborn and only a chosen few are creative. While it is true that creativity is inborn, it is not true that only a chosen few are creative. Everyone is born creative. In the process of growing up, educating yourself and adapting yourself to your environment, you slowly add blocks to your creativity and forget that you had it in the first place. The difference between a creative person and a person who is not so creative is not in the creativity that they were born with but in the creativity that they have lost. How can you enhance your creative ability? One possible way is to observe the habits of creative people, identify the ones that you feel will work for you and then make a plan to cultivate them. Here are 16 habits of creative people. If you cultivate some of them, you will feel an increase in your level of creativity. In the process, you will also feel tickled by life! *1.* *Creative people are full of curiosity.* Creative people are wonderstruck. They are tickled by the newness of every moment. They have lots of questions. They keep asking what, why, when, where and how. A questioning mind is an open mind. It is not a knowing mind. Only an open mind can be creative. A knowing mind can never be creative. A questioning stance sensitizes the mind in a very special way and it is able to sense what would have been missed otherwise. *2.* *Creative people are problem-friendly. * When there is a problem, some people can be seen wringing up their hands. Their first reaction is to look for someone to blame. Being faced with a problem becomes a problem. Such people can be called problem-averse. Creative people, on the other hand, are problem-friendly. They just roll up their sleeves when faced with a problem. They see problems as opportunities to improve the quality of life. Being faced with a problem is never a problem. You get dirty and take a bath every day. You get tired and relax every day. Similarly, you have problems that need to be solved every day. Life is a fascinating rhythm of problems and solutions. To be problem-averse is to be life-averse. To be problem-friendly is to be life-friendly. Problems come into your life to convey some message. If you run away from them, you miss the message. *3.* *Creative people value their ideas.* Creative people realize the value of an idea. They do not take any chance with something so important. They carry a small notepad to note down ideas whenever they occur. (I usually type it in my mobile/laptop whichever available.) Many times, just because they have a notepad and are looking for ideas to jot down, they can spot ideas which they would have otherwise missed. *4.* *Creative people embrace challenges. * Creative people thrive on challenges. They have a gleam in their eyes as soon as they sniff one. Challenges bring the best out of them - reason enough to welcome them. *5.* *Creative people are full of enthusiasm.* Creative people are enthusiastic about their goals. This enthusiasm works as fuel for their journey, propelling them to their goals. *6.* *Creative people are persistent. * Creative people know it well that people may initially respond to their new ideas like the immune system responds to a virus. They'll try to reject the idea in a number of ways. Creative people are not surprised or frustrated because of this. Nor do they take it personally. They understand it takes time for a new idea to be accepted. In fact, the more creative the idea, the longer it takes for it to be appreciated. *7.* *Creative people are perennially dissatisfied. * Creative people are acutely aware of their dissatisfactions and unfulfilled desires. However, this awareness does not frustrate them. As a matter of fact, they use this awareness as a stimulus to realize their dreams. *8.* *Creative people are optimists.* Creative people generally have a deeply held belief that most, if not all, problems can be solved. No challenge is too big to be overcome. This doesn't mean they are always happy and never depressed. They do have their bad moments but they don't generally get stumped by a challenge. *9.* *Creative people make positive Judgment.* *A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn. It can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a right man's brow - a businessman Charles Brower* The ability to hold off on judging or critiquing an idea is important in the process of creativity. Often great ideas start as crazy ones - if critique is applied too early the idea will be killed and never developed into something useful and useable. This doesn't mean there is no room for critique or judgment in the creative process but there is a time and place for it and creative people recognize that. *10.* *Creative people go for the big kill.* Creative people realize that the first idea is just the starting point. It is in the process of fleshing it out that some magical cross-connections happen and the original 'normal' idea turns into a killer idea. *11.* *Creative people are prepared to stick it out.* Creative people who actually see their ideas come to fruition have the ability to stick with their ideas and see them through - even when the going gets tough. This is what sets them apart from others. Stick-ability is the key. *12.* *Creative people do not fall in love with an idea.* Creative people recognize how dangerous it is to fall in love with an idea. Falling in love with an idea means stopping more ideas from coming to their mind. They love the process of coming up with ideas, not necessarily the idea. *13.* *Creative people recognize the environment in which they are most creative.* Creative people do most of their thinking in an environment which is most conducive to their creativity. If they are unable to influence their physical environment, they recreate their 'favourite' creative environment in their minds. *14.* *Creative people are good at reframing any situation.* Reframes are a different way of looking at things. Being able to reframe experiences and situations is a very powerful skill. Reframing allows you to look at a situation from a different angle. It is like another camera angle in a football match. And a different view has the power to change your entire perception of the situation. Reframing can breathe new life into dead situations. It can motivate demoralized teams. It helps you to spot opportunities that you would have otherwise missed. *15.* *Creative people are friends with the unexpected.* Creative people have the knack of expecting the unexpected and finding connections between unrelated things. It is this special quality of mind that evokes serendipitous events in their lives. Having honed the art of making happy discoveries, they are able to evoke serendipity more often than others. *16.* *Creative people are not afraid of failures.* Creative people realize that the energy that creates great ideas also creates errors. They know that failure is not really the opposite of success. In fact, both failure and success are on the same side of the spectrum because both are the result of an attempt made. Creative people look at failure as a stopover on way to success, just a step away from it.

*Shalu Wasu* is a Singapore based trainer and consultant. Among other things, he conducts open programs on Creativity and Innovation and Blogging for Business at NUS extension. Visit http://www.lifeahoy.sg to find out more about the programs and the next available dates.

So today I'll share 10 of my favourite tips that I use to minimize stress and live a more relaxed but at the same time productive life. I hope you find something helpful here, even if it's just a few reminders of things you had forgotten about.

*1. Accept the situation:*

Stress is often to a large part resistance to what already is. You may be in a stressful situation and think to yourself that this situation shouldn't be, that you shouldn't be here. But the situation has already arisen, is here, and so are you. So to decrease the stress and resistance you accept the situation. With your resistance gone or lowered you can now direct your mental energy and focus to finding a solution in a level-headed manner instead of trying to do it while panicked or confused.

*2. Take everything less seriously.*

Taking things or yourself overly serious adds a lot of unnecessary negativity and stress to your life. A minor situation may be blown up to a major one in your mind. If you just learn to lighten up a bit, life becomes more fun and you realize that you get great results even if you aren't super-serious about everything.

*3. Decrease or put a stop to negative relationships.*

If someone is always making you more stressed or creates a lot of negativity in your life you may want to consider decreasing the amount of time you spend with that person. Some people almost seem to like to dwell in negativity. That is their choice. It's your choice if you want to participate.

Or you can choose to hang out more with relaxed and non-stressed people. Both in real life and by watching/listening to CDs and DVDs. Two guys that tend to calm me down when I listen/watch them are Eckhart Tolle and Wayne Dyer.

*4. Just move slower.*

You emotions work backwards too. If you slow down how you walk or how you move your body you can often start to feel less stressed.

This allows you to think more clearly too. A stressed mind tends to run in circles a lot of the time. And slowing down to decrease stress goes for other forms of movement too, like riding your bicycle or driving the car.

*5. Exercise.*

A simple and time-tested way to decrease inner tension. Regular exercise can do wonders for both your mind and body. This is one of the solutions that work most consistently for me.

*6. Find five things you can be grateful for right now.*

Being grateful and appreciating your life and surroundings is one of the most effective ways to turn a negative emotional state to a more positive one. So find a few things you are grateful for right now.

Perhaps it's the sunny weather, that you feel healthy and energetic today, that you have just eaten a delicious after-noon snack, that the guy/gal that just walked by had a great looking jacket on and that tonight there is a new episode of your favourite TV-show to enjoy.

*7. Look for solutions.*

When faced with a challenge that can cause stress, try to direct your focus to solutions rather than to dwelling on the problem for too long. Dwelling only causes more stress and makes your mind less open to finding a solution.

*8. Be early.*

Just be 10 or 5 minutes early for meetings etc. This very simple tip can cut down on stress quite a bit.

*9. Do just one thing at a time.*

Single tasking and focusing on doing just one thing at a time not only decreases stress but from my experience gets things done a whole lot quicker than if you multitask.

*10. Talk to people around you about it.*

Perhaps they can offer you advice that has worked for them or just an ear and some support. Just telling someone about something, just getting it out can often help to relieve some of the stress.